Voices
by wombat-of-awesomeness
Summary: In which Percy and Annabeth are not just subject to physical tortures down in Tartarus. Happy Birthday Emma!


**Dedicated to my amazing friend Emma. Happy birthday!**

"**Perseus**Jackson."

"What?" jumped Percy, whirling around to where he assumed his girlfriend was.

Frowning, Annabeth squeezed his hand, "I'm right here Percy, I didn't say anything."

"I thought I heard, never mind. Let's keep walking."

Nodding reluctantly, Annabeth remained worried. Percy had been acting like this for the past few days, constantly on edge. Although she herself was understandably disoriented, she knew something was wrong.

Percy on the other hand, knew had been hearing the voice for days, and had come to discover that for some reason, Annabeth couldn't hear it.

"Of course she can't hear me," the voice rumbled, causing Percy to jump, "I'm your own personal demon."

Percy kept walking, attempting (and failing) to ignore the constant mumbling. "You defied me once Percy Jackson, and you scattered my soul. You know _exactly_ who I am."

The suspicion that had been gnawing at Percy's insides for the past few days was growing stronger. Of _course_ that's who it was, why hadn't he realized it earlier?

"Kronos" he mumbled aloud, earning a concerned look from Annabeth.

"Are you-are you _sure_ you're alright Percy?" she inquired cautiously.

"Fine, fine, I'm fine!" smiled Percy in what he thought was a convincing manner, "I'm just a little tired. How long do you think we've been down here?"

Annabeth considered, "Probably a week at least. We should be getting closer to the-Oh gods, there's Medusa again, get ready!"

"You are nothing Percy Jackson, but a fool if you think you can get your precious little girlfriend out of here alive."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Percy muttered to himself.

It had been two days since Annabeth had first asked if Percy was alright, and now she was genuinely concerned. As long as she had known the son of Poseidon, he'd always seemed fairly in control, and confident. But now, now his facade was cracking.

"There's no way you can win. You're leading your friends into a death trap, and you know it. You didn't even really defeat me, Luke did. Why should you get lucky this time?"

Percy was shaking madly now, trying in vain to get Kronos out of his head. "Stop. Talking. To. Me!" he shouted.

Eyes wide in horror, Annabeth took a step back. "Percy? What the Hades is going on?"

"It's-its nothing. Don't worry about it, okay Wise Girl?"

That night, Annabeth dreamt of the Argo II.

_The other five of the prophecy (and Nico) were sitting at a round table on the main deck, talking in hushed tones. _

"_I'm telling you!" Piper raised her voice, "I keep having these dreams, except they're not dreams, and they're real! If we can't get Percy and Annabeth out of there soon, they're going to go insane!"_

_Jason placed a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, "What exactly happened in your dream Pipes?" _

"_They were walking through darkness," began Piper, "when a strange voice started talking to Percy. But it was odd, because Annabeth couldn't hear it."_

_Horrified, Nico spoke up abruptly, "What did the voice say?"_

"_Something about how Percy had cast its soul into Tarturus, and that now he had to pay the price."_

"_Oh gods," Nico stood up and began pacing the room, "that was Kronos, I'm sure of it. Of course he's down there, why wouldn't he be?"_

"_Saturn's down there?" Jason's eyes went wide. "I know he used to try to get me to join him in my dreams, maybe he did the same thing to Percy?"_

"_It would make sense," Nico allowed, "maybe he forged a connection with Percy then, and that's why Annabeth can't hear him."_

Annabeth woke with a start, "Percy," she whispered, "why didn't you tell me?"

It was a few days before the daughter of Athena decided to say anything to her boyfriend.

But Percy had been muttering to himself every five minutes all day, and Annabeth couldn't take it anymore.

"Who's-" her voice caught in her throat as dark green eyes met hers, but she kept talking, "who's talking to you Percy?"

She already knew the answer, but she was interested to see how he would respond.

"It's nothing," Percy waved off her concerns, "don't worry about it."

It was nearly the exact same answer he'd given before, but this time, her response was different.

"No," grey eyes met green, "it's **not** nothing. It's driving you insane Percy, please, just tell me."

"Really," Percy flashed a strained smile at her, "I'm just a little tired, that's all. Come on, let's keep going."

They were out.

Granted, they were starved, battered, and most likely traumatized from the ordeal, but wonderfully and beautifully alive.

The final fight had been brutal. After all, eight demigods against half of Tarturus wasn't exactly a fair fight. But they'd done it.

"Percy," Annabeth gasped, looking wildly around, trying to find her boyfriend. Where was he? He had been here a second ago.

Finally, she found him, helping an injured Hazel up, even though it was evident that he wanted nothing more than to collapse.

Just as she was about to start sprinting over to him, Piper and Jason appeared. Both started talking excitedly, but for the most part, Annabeth wasn't listening.

Jason seemed to realize this fairly quickly, and stopped his attempts to talk. Piper on the other hand, kept at it.

_Was she okay? What about Percy? Did she want to head back to the Argo? Did-was she even listening? _

Annabeth then broke out of her friends embrace, and ran wildly over to her boyfriend, shouting his name madly all the way.

Meeting her intense gaze, Percy set down Hazel, and held out his arms.

And there they were, standing in the middle of a battlefield, arms wrapped desperately around each other, sobbing.

A few weeks ago, both Percy and Annabeth would have done anything to avoid crying in front of the others. They were leaders after all, they had to stay strong. Now, none of that mattered.

Their lips met, and for the first time that day, Annabeth saw stars. It was the most desperate kiss they'd ever shared, but both needed to know that the other was there, that they weren't alone.

The couple was exhausted, and soon after the kiss began, it ended with both Percy and Annabeth toppling over, and neither making any signs of wanting to get up.

As he slipped in unconsciousness, there was only one thing that occurred to Percy.

It was completely, utterly, blissfully silent.


End file.
